Tag Archives: hospital

DHEC In the News:  How to check for swim advisories, SC cancer deaths declining, and DHEC grants extension for acute care hospital

Leave a reply

Here’s a look at health and environmental news around South Carolina.

Is there a swim advisory at your beach destination?: Here’s how to check

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WYFF4.com) Are you headed to the beach one more time before summer ends? You might want to check to see if there is a swimming advisory in effect for your beach destination.

 

Report:  Cancer deaths decline in South Carolina, though issues persist

LEXINGTON, S.C. (Lexingtonsunnews.com) Though issues persist in minority populations and rural communities, the overall death rate from cancer in South Carolina is on the decline, according to a report by the S.C. Cancer Alliance (SCCA) and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).

 

DHEC grants Trident Medical 9-month extension for expansion project

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (Counton2.com) The South Carolina Department of Health is granting Trident Health a second nine-month extension of a certificate of need for a new 50-bed acute care hospital in Moncks Corner.

 

DHEC in the News: Fireworks safety, mosquitoes

Leave a reply

Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

The reality of fireworks on the Fourth

You’ve heard the message for years. And it’s been ignored for years: Fireworks are dangerous and should only be used in supervised situations.

An estimated 7,600 of the total 11,000 fireworks-related injuries from two summers ago were treated in hospital emergency departments during the period between June 18 and July 18, 2016, according to a report by the Consumer Products Safety Commission and its National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.

This July 4th many Americans and South Carolinians will continue the long tradition of lighting up the night with fireworks. While the displays are visually compelling, people should put safety first.

Columbia Fire Dept. offers 4th of July fireworks safety tips

COLUMBIA, SC (WACH) – The Columbia Fire Department wants you to have a safe and fun 4th of July, but they’re also stressing the importance of staying safe.

“Fireworks are exciting to see this time of year, but they are dangerous when misused not only for the operator but also for bystanders and nearby structures,” said Bengie Leverett, Public Fire Education Officer at Columbia-Richland Fire Rescue. “Everyone is urged to use extreme precaution when using the devices.”

Lowcountry mosquitoes deadlier than sharks? 4 tips you need to know about bug spray

Mosquitoes — along with their fiendish neighbors no-see-ums — can make being outdoors in the Lowcountry unpleasant.

That’s not to mention the diseases mosquitoes can transmit via their bites, such as West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses, both of which were recorded in South Carolina in 2017, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

DHEC in the News: Flu, Surfside Beach pier, discharge into Saluda River ended

Leave a reply

Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

DHEC: Number of SC flu deaths reported this season now at 167

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – The death toll this flu season continues to grow in South Carolina.

16 more people have died in the state within the last week.
Another child dies of the flu in South Carolina, but DHEC report shows activity is down

Flu activity continued to decline in the last week, but experts at both the federal and state health agencies said influenza is still considered widespread.

There were 6,332 influenza cases reported in the state in all, less than half that of the previous week, according to a report from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

FEMA set to fund upgraded Surfside Beach pier

The pier will be going back up in Surfside Beach, pending some official paperwork.

Interim administrator Jim Duckett said Tuesday the town is anticipating $9.5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money to build a concrete pier. The town’s wooden pier was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

Mayor Bob Childs predicted it would be back up in late 2019 at the earliest.

It’s Over: Discharge Into Saluda River from I-20 Sewage Plant Formally Ends

A yearslong fight to eliminate discharges from the former Carolina Water Service wastewater treatment facility near I-20 into the lower Saluda River came to a close Wednesday as the Town of Lexington, which now owns the plant, officially ended the discharge.

Lexington Mayor Steve MacDougall and Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler confirmed to Free Times Wednesday afternoon that the discharge has ended. Wastewater from that facility is now being pumped to a regional wastewater treatment facility in Cayce.

DHEC in the News: Flu, diabetes prevention, opioids

Leave a reply

Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

Aiken County still above state baseline for flu

Aiken County had a decrease in flu cases at the beginning of February, but for the week of Feb. 4 to 10, there were 632 lab-confirmed and positive rapid cases per 100,000 people, according to South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

There were 18,372 cases state-wide for that week, which is a decrease of 3.3 percent from the previous week, according to data provided by DHEC. There have been 99,791 cases during the entire flu season.

No excuses: RMC HealthPlex Diabetes Prevention Program changing lives for the better

As the second month of 2018 winds down, many of us are aggravated with ourselves for not sticking to our New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier, exercise and lose weight.

One group of Orangeburg residents, however, were on track to reach those goals after attending their second week of the intensive 16-week Diabetes Prevention Class at the Regional Medical Center’s HealthPlex in Orangeburg. The program kicked off on Jan. 23.

General Interest

ER Reduces Opioid Use By More Than Half With Dry Needles, Laughing Gas

One of the places many people are first prescribed opioids is a hospital emergency room. But in one of the busiest ERs in the U.S., doctors are relying less than they used to on oxycodone, Percocet, Vicodin and other opioids to ease patients’ pain.

In an unusual program designed to help stem the opioid epidemic, the emergency department at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., has been exploring alternative painkillers and methods. That strategy has led to a 58 percent drop in the ER’s opioid prescriptions in the program’s first year, according to numbers provided by St. Joseph’s Healthcare System’s chair of emergency medicine, Dr. Mark Rosenberg.

DHEC in the News: HPV, flu, critical need for more emergency medical professionals

Leave a reply

Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

This virus causes 31,500 cancers annually but few complete the vaccine to prevent it

Vaccination rates against HPV remain low in South Carolina, according to the national Blue Cross Blue Shield association, despite a wide acceptance by doctors as a key in preventing cervical and other types of cancer.

Gardasil had been administered in three doses until 2016, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended two doses of the same vaccine for adolescents. The Blue Cross study examined the percentage of children who got the first dose by the time they were 10 and the percentage who had gotten the final dose three years later.

Urgent care chain expanding as flu cases spike

As flu cases and related deaths continue to increase in South Carolina ahead of the peak flu season, urgent care facilities like American Family Care are rapidly expanding and opening more clinics in the Upstate.

American Family Care opened its newest location on Friday in Boiling Springs to help meet the surge in patients dealing with the flu or flu-like symptoms.

Fire chief: Critical need for medic professionals in York Co.

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — A local fire chief is speaking out about the lack of medical resources in the area.

City of York Fire Chief Domenic Manera tells NBC Charlotte his firefighters are also licensed EMTs, because the closest hospital is more than 20 minutes away. …

Chief Manera says there is a critical need for medic professionals in the western York County.